King Abdullah chairs Cabinet session

September 7, 2009

The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz chaired the Cabinet session at Al-Salam Palace in Jeddah this evening. He began by reviewing his contacts last week with foreign officials, including telephone conversations with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh and meetings with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad Al-Thani, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and Bahraini Crown Prince Sheikh Salman Al-Khalifa.

The Cabinet reiterated its firm position in support of the Palestinian people and their right to establish a unified, independent state. After reviewing a number of reports on regional and international developments, the Cabinet lauded the outcomes of the GCC Ministerial Council’s 112th meeting held in Jeddah last Tuesday, the 84th session of the Arab Economic and Social Council held in Cairo last Thursday, and the meeting of G-20 Finance Ministers and Governors of Central Banks held in London last Saturday.

On the domestic front, the Cabinet commend the Saudi monarch on the formal opening of the King Abdullah University for Sciences and Technology (KAUST), which has admitted four hundred students as part of its first class. The university will officially open on September 23, 2009, coinciding with the 79th anniversary of the Kingdom’s National Day.

The Cabinet expressed satisfaction over a report issued by the Ministry of Health, showing that 98 percent of those who contracted the H1N1 Flu (Swine Flu) in the Kingdom have recovered, thanks to measures taken by health authorities.

The ministers also welcomed the decision to award Assistant Minister of Interior for Security Affairs Prince Mohammed bin Nayef bin Abdulaziz with the King Abdulaziz First Class Medal in recognition of his efforts in the security sphere.

After reviewing its agenda, the Cabinet approved a number of measures regulating the organization of the Saudi Red Crescent Authority; approved the accession of Saudi Arabia to the Explosive Remnants of War ((Protocol V to the 1980 Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons); authorized the Minister of Labor to sign a draft executive program for cooperation in the field of technical and vocational training between the Saudi Technical and Vocational Training Corporation and the Malaysian Ministry of Education; approved allowing any licensed bank in the Kingdom to establish a one-person company wholly owned by the bank; and approved the Saudi government’s health care strategy.

The Cabinet also approved the appointments of Abdulaziz Abu Abat as Ambassador at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Ghurm Malhan as Minister Plenipotentiary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Hisham Zara’h as Minister Plenipotentiary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Saud Al-Thubaiti as Minister Plenipotentiary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Abdulkarim Al-Juhani as Minister Plenipotentiary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and Abdullah Marghalani as Director General of the Ministry’s Branch in Jeddah Province at the Ministry of Hajj.